Henry Gross Tuesday Morning Flashback
Tuesday morning I was filling in for Trav. It was early 4:45 AM, I'm driving in on Louise Avenue and all the sudden it comes to me clear as a bell. Not on the radio, just in my ears. Shannon, by Henry Gross.
Now, I am a child of the 60's and 70's. Music and the radio were important to me growing up. Songs from 1976 that still come up in my register today are Paul Simon, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Love is Alive by Gary Wright, Seals and Crofts, Get Closer and the song Shannon by Henry Gross.
People wondered for years what the story was behind the song Shannon. Was it about a dog? Doesn't really matter. What matters is it stuck. And it's still stuck there. In my head. After nearly 40 years it's there.
So, I get into work, and I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I played it on Kickin' Country.
If you listen to the song, it's got a country vibe. Oh, I know it wasn't a country song. I remember listening to Shannon on KOMA out of Oklahoma City or KSTP AM in Minneapolis. As I was playing it on Kickin' Tuesday morning. I couldn't help but think, wouldn't it be cool if Rascal Flatts would do a remake of the song. I don't think anyone has the chops to handle the song except for Gary LaVox. Throw in the harmonies of Jo Don Rooney and Jay Demarcus and, and, it will probably never happen. But it would be cool if it did.
We talked about it on the air, and Janel from Hartford, SD tweets out:
@KIKNCountry Think @rascalflatts should do a cover of the song 'Shannon' by Henry Gross.
Then, boom it happens,
@KIKNCountry Great idea! Henry
Twitter is an awesome tool. We were saying something, Janel was listening, she tweeted and Henry responded. How cool is that. One of the artists who wrote and performed a song nearly 40 years ago responded.
I would love to get Henry on the radio some day. Just to talk about his career. I looked. He was the youngest performer on the main stage at Woodstock at just 18 years of age. I did more checking and found he played lead guitar on the late Jim Croce's I Got a Name and now here he is responding to a random thought on Twitter.
It was a treat for Tammy and me. As we said in the studio, Henry, Freaking Gross responded to a tweet mentioning us and now follows us on Twitter.
We thought it was kind of cool. Nah, it was cool. Thanks Henry! You made our day, and a song that is forever stuck in my head.
Do me a favor. Go to Henry's website and see what he's been up to. Who knows maybe we can get him to come to Sioux Falls some day.
"Shannon", a song written about the passing of Beach Boy Carl Wilson's Irish Setter of the same name. The single went gold and became a worldwide hit, reaching #6 on the USA charts in 1976.
More From KXRB
